Yale Invited To Participate In CBI

James Jones. (photo by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity)

Mar 14, 2011

School Forced To Decline Due To Spring Break Travel

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team, which finished third in a very competitive Ivy League, was invited to participate in the 2011 College Basketball Invitational presented by Zebra Pen. Yale, however, was forced to decline the invitation. The school has been on a two-week spring break since the regular season ended on Mar. 5, and several players are travelling overseas. Efforts were made to try and bring the players back to campus, but the earliest that could happen was Tuesday, the day the tournament gets under way.

"It's an honor to be invited to post season play and considered as one of the top teams in the country," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "We are grateful to the CBI for recognizing our successful season."

The Bulldogs finished with 15 wins, their most since the 2005-06 season. One of the most impressive victories came at Boston College in November. The Eagles went on to finish with a 20-12 overall record and tied for fourth in the ACC.

Yale was 8-6 in Ivy play, including a 70-69 win over league co-champion Harvard. The Bulldogs have now finished fourth or better in league play in each of the last 11 years.

Four starters will return for the 2011-12 season, including Greg Mangano, who had a breakout junior season. He averaged 16.3 points and 10.0 points, becoming the first Yale player to average a double-double for the season since Chris Dudley (17.6 ppg., 13.3 rpg.) in 1986-87 and the first Ivy player since Harvard's Kyle Snowden (15.1 ppg, 11.1 rpg.) in 1995-96. In addition, Mangano had a school record 85 blocks, which is the third most in Ivy history.

Mangano was even better in Ivy games where he averaged 18.6 points and 10.4 rebounds, which both led the league. His 51 blocks in league games is a new Ivy record as well.

Yale is tentatively scheduled to open the 2011-12 season on Nov. 12 against Central Connecticut in the Connecticut 6 Classic at the Mohegan Sun Arena.